diff --git a/src/bgp/test/state_machine_test.cc b/src/bgp/test/state_machine_test.cc
index 2cbe590d0b6..3a7dfe51b21 100644
--- a/src/bgp/test/state_machine_test.cc
+++ b/src/bgp/test/state_machine_test.cc
@@ -64,6 +64,9 @@ class BgpSessionMock : public BgpSession {
         return true;
     }
 
+    virtual void AsyncReadStart() {
+    }
+
     void Close() {
         state_ = BgpSessionMock::CLOSE;
         BgpSession::Close();
@@ -174,6 +177,14 @@ class StateMachineTest : public ::testing::Test {
         evm_.Shutdown();
     }
 
+    void StopStateMachine() {
+        sm_->work_queue_.set_disable(true);
+    }
+
+    void StartStateMachine() {
+        sm_->work_queue_.set_disable(false);
+    }
+
     virtual void SetUp() {
     }
 
@@ -400,14 +411,18 @@ class StateMachineTest : public ::testing::Test {
         sm_->FireOpenTimer();
     }
     void EvTcpPassiveOpen() {
+        StopStateMachine();
         BgpSessionMock *session = session_mgr_->CreatePassiveSession();
         TcpSession::Endpoint endpoint;
         peer_->AcceptSession(session);
+        StartStateMachine();
     }
     void EvTcpDuplicatePassiveOpen() {
+        StopStateMachine();
         BgpSessionMock *session = session_mgr_->CreateDuplicateSession();
         TcpSession::Endpoint endpoint;
         peer_->AcceptSession(session);
+        StartStateMachine();
     }
     void EvOpenTimerExpiredPassive() {
         EvTcpPassiveOpen();
diff --git a/src/io/tcp_session.cc b/src/io/tcp_session.cc
index 25f6de485fa..3b96f22b0db 100644
--- a/src/io/tcp_session.cc
+++ b/src/io/tcp_session.cc
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ TcpSession::TcpSession(
       established_(false),
       closed_(false),
       direction_(ACTIVE),
-      writer_(new TcpMessageWriter(socket, this)) {
+      writer_(new TcpMessageWriter(socket, this)),
+      name_("-") {
     refcount_ = 0;
     writer_->RegisterNotification(
                  boost::bind(&TcpSession::WriteReadyInternal, this, _1));
@@ -61,7 +62,10 @@ TcpSession::TcpSession(
         TaskScheduler *scheduler = TaskScheduler::GetInstance();
         reader_task_id_ = scheduler->GetTaskId("io::ReaderTask");
     }
-    name_ = "-";
+    if (server_) {
+        io_strand_.reset(new Strand(*server->event_manager()->io_service()));
+    }
+
 }
 
 TcpSession::~TcpSession() {
@@ -117,7 +121,7 @@ void TcpSession::ReleaseBufferLocked(Buffer buffer) {
     assert(false);
 }
 
-void TcpSession::AsyncReadStart() {
+void TcpSession::AsyncReadStartInternal(TcpSessionPtr session) {
     mutable_buffer buffer = AllocateBuffer();
     tbb::mutex::scoped_lock lock(mutex_);
     if (!established_) {
@@ -129,6 +133,13 @@ void TcpSession::AsyncReadStart() {
                     boost::asio::placeholders::error, boost::asio::placeholders::bytes_transferred));
 }
 
+void TcpSession::AsyncReadStart() {
+    if (io_strand_) {
+        io_strand_->post(
+            boost::bind(&TcpSession::AsyncReadStartInternal, this, TcpSessionPtr(this)));
+    }
+}
+
 TcpSession::Endpoint TcpSession::local_endpoint() const {
     tbb::mutex::scoped_lock lock(mutex_);
     if (!established_) {
diff --git a/src/io/tcp_session.h b/src/io/tcp_session.h
index c5a29b5ee37..48e8b0ea83f 100644
--- a/src/io/tcp_session.h
+++ b/src/io/tcp_session.h
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include <boost/asio/buffer.hpp>
 #include <boost/asio/io_service.hpp>
 #include <boost/asio/ip/tcp.hpp>
+#include <boost/asio/strand.hpp>
 #include <boost/intrusive_ptr.hpp>
 #include <boost/function.hpp>
 #include <boost/scoped_ptr.hpp>
@@ -125,7 +126,7 @@ class TcpSession {
     void set_read_on_connect(bool read) { read_on_connect_ = read; }
     void SessionEstablished(Endpoint remote, Direction direction);
 
-    void AsyncReadStart();
+    virtual void AsyncReadStart();
 
     const TcpServer::SocketStats &GetSocketStats() const { return stats_; }
     void GetRxSocketStats(TcpServerSocketStats &socket_stats) const;
@@ -155,6 +156,7 @@ class TcpSession {
     friend void intrusive_ptr_release(TcpSession *session);
     typedef boost::intrusive_ptr<TcpSession> TcpSessionPtr;
     typedef std::list<boost::asio::mutable_buffer> BufferQueue;
+    typedef boost::asio::strand Strand;
 
     static void AsyncReadHandler(TcpSessionPtr session,
                                  boost::asio::mutable_buffer buffer,
@@ -163,6 +165,7 @@ class TcpSession {
     static void AsyncWriteHandler(TcpSessionPtr session,
                                   const boost::system::error_code &error);
 
+    void AsyncReadStartInternal(TcpSessionPtr session);
     void ReleaseBufferLocked(Buffer buffer);
     void CloseInternal(bool callObserver);
     void SetEstablished(Endpoint remote, Direction dir);
@@ -182,6 +185,7 @@ class TcpSession {
 
     TcpServerPtr server_;
     boost::scoped_ptr<Socket> socket_;
+    boost::scoped_ptr<Strand> io_strand_;
     bool read_on_connect_;
     int buffer_size_;